Joe Falcon (athlete)

For the musician, see Joe Falcon.

Joe Falcon (born June 23, 1966) is a former US middle distance runner whose greatest success was his victory in the 1990 Oslo Dream Mile with a time of 3:49.31 minutes, which was the fastest mile in the world in 1990. In the course of the race, he ran a personal best over 1500 m of 3:33.6. Also, in 1990 Joe won the 5000 meter at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon in 13:20, with a last lap under 53 seconds.

Running career

Falcon attended Belton High School in Missouri. While there, he won the Missouri High School cross country division 1A-3A race in 1983, running the 5000 meter race in a time of 15:57.5. In 1984, he had a stellar track season, running 1:52.45 (800 m), 4:06.6 (1600 m), and 8:53.35 (3200 m).

Falcon ran at the University of Arkansas under legendary coach John McDonnell. He was the anchor leg of the Arkansas Razorbacks distance medley relay that won at the 1986 Penn Relays and was the NCAA Cross Country Champion in 1987. He was named most outstanding performer among college men at both the 1988 and 1989 Penn Relays.^[1]

Falcon won six individual NCAA titles in cross country, indoor and outdoor track: indoor 3,000 m champion 1987 & 1988, indoor mile champ 1988, outdoor 10,000 m champion 1987, outdoor 1,500 m champion 1988 and cross country champion 1987.

On August 10, 1990, he suffered a torn sheath in his left Achilles' tendon during a race in Brussels, Belgium after another runner accidentally spiked him.

It has been said, on a side note, that Joe Falcon could also bench press over 280 lbs, (290 lbs actually reported eye witnesses) an astonishing amount for his small frame.

Falcon currently works as a police officer in Bentonville, Arkansas and serves on the school board. He is married with three children.

Rankings and recognition

Falcon was ranked among the top ten runners in his event in the US and the world by Track and Field News on numerous occasions:^[2]

Year	Event	World rank	US rank
1988	1500 meters	-	7th
1989	1500 meters	-	3rd
	5000 meters	-	1st
1990	1500 meters	3rd	1st
1991	1500 meters	-	8th
1992	1500 meters	-	3rd
1993	1500 meters	-	5th
	10,000 meters	-	7th

In 1990, Falcon received the prestigious Glenn Cunningham Award from the USATF as the top American male distance runner.^[3]

References

1989 Year Ranking

Specific

US National Championship winners in men's 1500-meter run or mile

1876–78 New York Athletic Club	1876^M: Harold Lambe (CAN) * Cornelius Vought 1877^M: Richard Morgan 1878^M: Thomas Smith

1879–88 NAAAA	1879^M: Henry Pellatt (CAN) * William Duffy 1880–83^M: Harry Fredericks 1884^M: Percy Madeira 1885^M: George Gilbert 1886–87^M: Edward Carter 1888^M^{Note 1}: Thomas Conneff

1888–1979 Amateur Athletic Union	1888^M^{Note 1}: G.M. Gibbs (CAN) * Thomas Conneff 1889–90^M: Albert George 1891^M: Thomas Conneff 1892^M: George Orton (CAN) * Ernest Hjertberg 1893-5^M: George Orton (CAN) * A.J. Walsh 1896^M: George Orton (CAN) * Mortimer Remington 1897–98^M: John Cregan 1899^M: Alex Grant 1900^M: George Orton (CAN) Alex Grant 1901–03^M: Alex Grant 1904^M: David Munson 1905^M: James Lightbody 1906^M: Albert Rodgers 1907^M: James Sullivan 1908^M: Herbert Trube 1909^M: Joe Ballard 1910^M: Joe Monument 1911–12^M: Abel Kiviat 1913^M: Norman Taber 1914^M: Abel Kiviat 1915^M: Joie Ray 1916^M: Ivan Meyers 1917–23^M ^OT: Joie Ray 1924–25^M: Ray Buker 1926^M: Lloyd Hahn 1927M-28^OT: Ray Conger 1929^M: Leo Lermond 1930^M: Ray Conger 1931^M: Leo Lermond 1932^OT: Norwood Hallowell 1933: Glenn Cunningham 1934: Bill Bonthron 1935–38: Glenn Cunningham 1939: Blaine Rideout 1940: Walter Mehl 1941: Les MacMitchell 1942–43: Gil Dodds 1944: Bill Hulse 1945: Roland Sink 1946: Lennart Strand (SWE) Les MacMitchell 1947: Gerry Karver 1948: Gil Dodds 1949–50: John Twomey 1951: Len Truex 1952–53^M: Wes Santee 1954^M: Fred Dwyer 1955^M: Wes Santee 1956: Jerome Walters 1957^M: Merv Lincoln (AUS) * Bob Seaman 1958^M: Herb Elliott (AUS) * Ed Moran 1959: Dyrol Burleson 1960: Jim Grelle 1961^M: Dyrol Burleson 1962^M: Jim Beatty 1963^M: Dyrol Burleson 1964: Tom O'Hara 1965–67^M: Jim Ryun 1968: John Mason 1969^M: Marty Liquori 1970^M: Howell Michael 1971^M: Marty Liquori 1972: Jerome Howe 1973^M: Len Hilton 1974: Rod Dixon (NZL) * Tom Byers 1975: Len Hilton 1976: Eamonn Coghlan (IRL) *Michael Manke 1977–79: Steve Scott

1980–92 The Athletics Congress	1980: Steve Lacy 1981: Sydney Maree (SAF) * Steve Scott 1982–83: Steve Scott 1984–85: Jim Spivey 1986: Steve Scott 1987: Jim Spivey 1988: Mark Deady 1989: Terrence Herrington 1990: Joe Falcon 1991: Terrence Herrington 1992^OT: Jim Spivey

1993-onwards USA Track & Field	1993: Bill Burke 1994: Terrence Herrington 1995–96^OT: Paul McMullen 1997: Seneca Lassiter 1998: Jamey Harris 1999: Steve Holman 2000^OT: Gabe Jennings 2001: Andy Downin 2002: Seneca Lassiter 2003: Jason Lunn 2004–05: Alan Webb 2006: Bernard Lagat 2007: Alan Webb 2008: Bernard Lagat 2009–10: Lopez Lomong 2011: Matthew Centrowitz 2012: Leonel Manzano 2013: Matthew Centrowitz 2014: Leonel Manzano 2015–16: Matthew Centrowitz

Notes	Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996 & 2000 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event. "M": Where this follows the year it denotes that the race was run over a mile rather than 1500 m

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